1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is generally related to a component mounting system and, more particularly, to an arrangement which supports a flame arrestor and a cover on a throttle body structure and the intake manifold of a marine engine.
2. Description of the Related Art
Those skilled in the art of marine engine design are familiar with various types of flame arrestors that are used in conjunction with engines of all types and, in particular, engines used in conjunction with marine propulsion systems.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,203,296, which issued to Hart on Apr. 20, 1993, describes a flame arrestor having a helical flame arresting member. The arrestor comprises a continuous flame arresting member in the form of a helix having offset interstices between adjacent turns of the helix. The flame arrestor further comprises a mechanism for housing the flame arrestor member. Upon installation of the flame arrestor on a carburetor, air intake system, or any source of flammable gases, any backfire or flame passing through the flame arrestor will be extinguished.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,268,289, which issued to Polaner on May 19, 1981, describes a flame arresting air filter element. The element is intended for use with an air intake system and has an outer ring of pleated filtering paper and an inner, concentric ring formed of expanded metal foil, longitudinally stretched and laterally compressed so as to be adapted to diffuse and quench flames resulting from engine backfire. The inner ring is coated with a relatively inert, cohesive substance to provide a unitary structure. The two rings are provided with resilient end caps.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,709,187, which issued to Jaeger et al. on Jan. 20, 1998, discloses a flame arrestor. The flame arrestor is for a marine engine and includes an air box mounted to the combustion air intake, and a uniplanar flame arresting element mounted to the air box and passing combustion air therethrough in a first direction into the air intake and blocking flame propagation in a second opposite direction out of the air intake. Air flow from the flame arresting element to the air intake is rectilinear.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,357,913, which issued to Okumura et al. on Oct. 25, 1994, describes a flame arrestor arrangement for a marine propulsion engine. A pair of embodiments of flame arrestor arrangements for marine propulsion engines are described wherein the flame arrestor is positioned vertically above the thermostat housing at one end of the engine and the plenum chamber for the intake is manifold is disposed above the exhaust elbow of the engine so as to provide good induction efficiency and compact size. Different configurations of flame arrestors are disclosed and they provide large effective inlet areas and, at the same time, good flame protection.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,794,707, which issued to Alhamad on August 18, 1998, describes a flame arrestor. An efficient flame arrestor is adapted for use in preventing an external flame from backflashing upstream in a pipe, or a conduit, or a stream carrying a flammable substance. The flame arrestor comprises a contained layer of nested spheroids formed from expanded metal sheets made from magnesium alloy foil. The arrestor is useful in fuel tanks, combustion systems, seagoing tankers, hot water or space heaters, and the like.
The patents described above are hereby expressly incorporated by reference in the description of the present invention.
It would be significantly beneficial if an improved mounting method could be provided in which a flame arrestor is robustly supported by a throttle body and intake manifold in such a way that it is easily removable from the throttle body. In addition, it would be significantly beneficial if a cover could be supported over the flame arrestor by the same structure which attaches the flame arrestor to the throttle body. It would be also significantly beneficial if a structure could be provided that maintains the flame arrestor and the throttle body in a coaxially aligned relationship during operation of a marine engine.